Prefacing this thread by saying this is not new, but I feel this is worth discussing.
One of the big problems with the game lately is the loot reward structure. Too much RNG, disproportionate rewards, too many sources of gear rewards and of course WF/TF. There are other problems I’d like to tackle but for now I’d like to bring up disproportionate WQ rewards, especially the Nazjatar ones, along with the daily quests you get in the quest hub.
Exhibit A; “Runelocked Chest” and War Resources reward.
Exhibit B; “Hungry Hungry Hydras” and War Resources reward.
Exhibit C; “Bounty: A Few Hydras” and Gold reward.
Let’s start with A and B, and compare both rewards with consideration of time taken to complete both. Rune-locked Chests may take some players more time to complete, either due to RNG in the distribution of runes and with what’s available as you start the puzzle.
Sometimes you either get lucky with the RNG and complete a line, then as you’re given more runes you may end up completing more lines automatically, which of course doesn’t always happen. In general I would think these WQs should not take too long, but this varies from one person to another. Some other times it may take longer because you need to clear up more runes of other colors until you’re given the color you need for that puzzle, and they require a different number of runes each time, and in average personally this puzzle may take 5 minutes at most unless distracted.
Now let’s look at B, which is “Hungry Hungry Hydras”. This one has less RNG, technically doesn’t take too long but has a slight bit of RNG in the crab meat drops, but usually isn’t an issue. Going with my personal experience, this feels tedious, and isn’t super engaging, especially with the amount of war resources awarded when you compare with exhibit A.
So what’s the problem? The problem is that A doesn’t involve you to kill mobs for a number of drops that you turn in to the hydra, then you’re controlling said hydra to kill this tide guardian by pressing some buttons. Considering that I’ve had the tide guardian despawn on me before, and the area of the WQ, this one I will usually skip unless the reward feels appropriate for the task (400ish AP is a decent reward, but 55 resources doesn’t really cut it). Then there’s the puzzle where you get double the amount of resources for something that may take at worst 5 minutes in theory unless you get good RNG, and is somewhat engaging but on a different level.
Let’s use another example, with exhibit C where you are tasked with killing X hydras (this one sometimes requires 10, 15, or maybe more kills). Considering the fact that other players may also be actively killing these depending on time of day and shard population, this can be done relatively quickly, or can take a few more minutes at most, for a measly 58 gold. I can kill a single named mob in either Kul Tiras or Zandalar and get 3 or 4 times as much gold, although they may require more travel time, but technically are much faster to complete.
The whole point is to show a disproportionate in WQ rewards, and this isn’t new. I’m pretty sure I remember this in Legion, but we’re getting in that point of no return. I’m not expecting this to change whenever, but this is feedback for the next expansions. There’s so many things I’d address but this is it for now.